NSW
Sydney’s Hornsby Shire Council has unveiled a new state-of-the-art public electric vehicle (EV) charging station in Beecroft.
The Council says local electric vehicle uptake is on the rise, with a 41% increase seen over the past six months. There are currently 879 EV owners in the Hornsby Shire.
Mayor, Philip Ruddock AO said he was pleased to see the addition of a new local charging site, which will help accelerate the shift to zero emissions.
“This is another great step towards sustainability and taking care of our environment. This new charging station here at Beecroft provides our residents with greater access to charging networks in our local area,” Mayor Ruddock said.
“As a council, we have an important role in enabling the uptake of the EV initiative and playing our part in this motoring transformation.”
The charging addition at Beecroft Village was installed by JOLT Charge, on the Ausgrid substation kiosk at the location.
JOLT Charge is powered by 100% certified GreenPower energy and provides EV drivers with free, fast charging. Australian EV users are eligible for up to 7kWh for free across the JOLT network each day, providing 50kms of driving range.
This new JOLT addition sees three fast chargers now available in the Hornsby Local Government Area, with further charging sites planned to be introduced as the interest in EV grows.
“JOLT is excited to launch our partnership with Ausgrid in the Hornsby Shire, where we’ve witnessed a rapid increase of EV ownership, with almost 1,000 EVs on Hornsby roads and growing,” JOLT CEO, Doug McNamee said.
Ausgrid’s Head of Commercial Development, Nick Black said Ausgrid’s priority was to support the continued uptake of electric vehicles, while improving equitable access to charging facilities.
“The chargers across the network have proven incredibly popular. Since install, all 25 chargers have provided enough renewable energy for EVs to travel over 2.5 million kilometres, saving over 250,000 litres of petrol,” he said.
“Repurposing pre-existing infrastructure to continue driving the energy transition means we can roll out chargers like these quickly and efficiently across our network.”
Council adopted an Electric Vehicle Charging Stations on Public Land Policy in April 2020 to improve EV charging infrastructure and support the community in reduction of carbon emissions. For more information, visit hornsby.nsw.gov.au/environment/sustainability/electric-vehicles.
View a map of EV chargers in Hornsby Shire at https://electricvehiclecouncil.com.au/about-ev/charger-map.
